Fashion School!!!

I’m currently debating whether to start a whole new blog or just add a new category to this one. But considering I can’t even find the time to regularly update one blog let a lone two, I think I’ll stay here for the time being. So, Welcome to my journey through fashion school. The new purpose of this blog (in addition to existing purposes/purpi) is to document (at least some of) my experiences as a student fashion designer at MSIT.

My main audience for this blog was initially my family and interstate friends, so they could see what I’d been up to on my latest adventures in ‘BrisneyLand’ (Otherwise known as Brisbane, Australia). Facebook has since taken over that role, however. So now I can be a bit more specialised here.

Hopefully my exploits will also be of use to other student designers or potential students of fashion and costume design. Including my Cosplay peeps! But failing that, I bet it will also make for a fascinating historical record of how I came to be a rich and famous, award-winning designer! Haha.

My Motivation: I recently graduated from Q.U.T. with a Bachelor of Creative Industries (Interdisciplinary major). So why would I then want to go back to a tech college to study a whole other field? Well, I actually wanted to be a fashion designer since I was a child. One of my favourite games was playing with those fashion tiles, and I was always drawing my ideas for stuff.

However, as I got older and wiser(?) I got turned off by the apparent ‘shallowness’ of the industry, and realised I was probably too spiritual, sensitive, and unique to fit into the cut-throat, mainstream fashion industry. But years later I got heavily into the hobby of Cosplay (Costume Play) and making fun costumes, to play in at conventions like Supanova Pop Culture Expo.

Suddenly my sewing machine, which was a gift from my parents on my 21st birthday, was getting a workout after being in storage for years, and I was eager to learn how to sew “properly”. I was also keen to learn any new techniques that would help me to make better costumes. Youtube tutorials, how-to- articles, sewing books, and video Skype calls with my mum were invaluable during this time. While first teaching myself to sew I’d often get my mum on a Skype video link, to ask for explanations on a particular pattern or help with a particular technique. Gotta love mums, and technology!

Cosplay is an interesting hobby. You start out by dressing up in a shabby costume made from a cardboard box and fabric glue, then suddenly you find yourself offering to build someone a fully-functioning Tron suit, out of space age fabric and electro-luminescent wire! It’s an addictive, and expensive, yet highly-creatively-fulfilling hobby. Which is why I want to do it as a career!

After going to conventions and hanging around more ‘alternative’ friends, I also came to realise something that excited me about fashion design: I don’t have to go mainstream. There are so many beautiful, inspiring subcultures of dress out there, and willing niche markets: Gothic Lolita; Steam Punk; Harajuku-style craziness! I love it!

Getting into costume design helped me to reawaken my passion for designing stuff, without being boring. I’m actually thinking of this as an extension of my Creative Industries degree, where I studied and sub-majored in Creative & Professional Writing, Business Entrepreneurship, and Film & Television. I can use all of that in my new career ventures! Now, it’s just focused toward fashion and costume design. I believe this can only give me an advantage with working in the industry. (Writing for Fashion TV anyone?) So now you know a bit about my background and motivations, let the new adventure begin!

About me

"With Great SpaceFairyness Comes Great Responsibility..."
Hi, my name is Mel. I currently live on planet Earth- a hopping little planet in a corner of the Milky Way Galaxy. I love designing costumes and unusual clothing, watching Sci-Fi, exploring the mysteries of the universe, and playing with kittens.